Reginald John Mickel (born August 1953) is an Australian politician. He was the

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland is elected by the members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly to preside over sittings of the Assembly and to maintain orderly proceedings. The Speaker must be a member of the Legislative ...

and the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gover ...

until the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

. He was succeeded by

Fiona Simpson Fiona Stuart Simpson (born 18 April 1965 in Sea Lake, Victoria) is an Australian politician serving as Liberal National Party (LNP) member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, representing Maroochydore since 1992. Simpson served as Speaker ...

as Speaker, as he did not contest the 2012 election.

Early life

Born in

Murgon Murgon is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Murgon had a population of 2,378 people. Geography Murgon is in the region of Queensland known as the South Burnett, the southern ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, he went to school at

St Laurence's College , motto_translation = To do and to teach , type = Independent primary and secondary school , religion = Catholicism , denomination = Congregation of Christian Brothers , streetaddress ...

and later attended the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

where he studied literature and education.

Political career

In 1979, he joined the Labor Party and was an adviser to federal MP

David Beddall David Peter Beddall (born 27 November 1948) is a former Australian politician. Beddall was born in Manchester, England and was employed by the Commonwealth Bank and was a self-employed commercial finance consultant before he entered parliament. ...

. He was later a senior adviser to

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

Wayne Goss Wayne Keith Goss (26 February 1951 – 10 November 2014) was Premier of Queensland from 7 December 1989 until 19 February 1996, becoming the first Labor Premier of the state in over thirty two years. Prior to entering politics, Goss was a solic ...

and to Health Minister (later Premier)

Peter Beattie Peter Douglas Beattie (born 18 November 1952) is an Australian former politician who served as the 36th Premier of Queensland, in office from 1998 to 2007. He was the state leader of the Labor Party from 1996 to 2007. Beattie was born in Sy ...

. In 1998, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

as the Labor member for

. He was a minister in various portfolios from 2004 to 2009. He served in Beattie's initial Cabinet as Environment Minister in 2004, but was transferred to Energy in August of that year. In March 2005, he added the Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...

Policy portfolio. In September 2006, he became Minister for State Development, Industrial Relations and Employment. When

Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is a lobbyist and former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position. In 2 ...

replaced Beattie as Premier, Mickel's portfolio was altered, becoming Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations. He was dropped from the ministry after Labor's re-election in the 2009 state election, but was elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

when the Legislative Assembly convened in April 2009. Mickel announced on 10 August 2011 that he would step down at the

Family life

Mickel is married; he has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mickel, John 1953 births Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Speakers of the Queensland Legislative Assembly University of Queensland alumni Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 21st-century Australian politicians